What Smiles Can't Afford
by everybodyhurts
Summary: [TwoBit's kid sister] Kelsey Matthews' is just finding her way. How does she fit in with the Outsiders gang? And what is going on with their mom? New chapter up! Finally a new chapter! August 31st! Please review!
1. One: Siblings

okay, this is another sister story. no, not the curtis brothers having a sister, I don't really like that idea. I mean, if they had had a sister, they wouldnt be the way they are ya know? I like to read some of them, but no write them. :) Two Bit actually has a 'mentioned once' sister, and I'd like to expand on that. I realize there is a few Two-Bit sister stories around, but hopefully you will find this one a bit different. 

_I didn't know exactly what I meant, but I was thinking about Johnny's father being a drunk and his mother being a selfish slob, and Two-Bit's mother being a barmaid to **support him and and his kid sister** after their father ran out on them, and Dally- wild, cunning Dally..._

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"Kelsey!" 

Keith 'Two-Bit' Matthews sighed.

"Kelsey!"

He suddenly heard something or even someone fall. He jumped up from his chair and ran down the hallway to the bedroom he shared. The bedroom he shared with his younger sister. Here's the thing, I'm sure if you weren't either seeing the two Matthews' offspring standing beside each other or you were their close personal friends, you would have no idea they were related. They were like opposites, but were pretty close.

He opened the door to see his sister sprawled across the floor, groaning but laughing at the same time. Her brown hair seemed to be so red in the light coming from the window. She got her hair from their dad. He would never tell her that to her face, no one would but they all knew it. Two-Bit chuckled and leaned against the door frame as his 15 year old sister pulled herself off the ground and moved her shoulder length hair out of her face.

"You know what? You aren't supposed to be laughing right now. Because of your yelling, you A: woke me up, B: caused me to hit my head on the headboard then C: fall of the bed."

"You know Kels, they have gaurd rails for kids who can't sleep on their bed without falling off. We could always get you one you know," And finishing his sentence, he darted back down the hallway to avoid the anger of his sister. Kelsey sighed and ran after her brother, quickly throwing on her shoes and closing the door behind her. She followed him right back into the kitchen, where he was sitting casually.

"I thought you could run faster than that," It would be a point like this where Kelsey Matthews would jump on her brother and laugh and joke. But ever since last year when their father left them, it was times like these that left an awkward tension between them. Kelsey smirked a bit but her smile faded when she realized what time it was. 8 o'clock already? She had fallen asleep doing her homework when she got home from school. She was that kind of kid who did her homework on Fridays, to get it over and done with to leave a free open weekend. But she was going to go catch a movie tonight. She hoped she still had time.

Changing the subject, Kelsey questioned her brother, "When is mom supposed to get home tonight anyway?"

Two-Bit rolled his eyes and looked at his watch, "I don't know. Sometime tonight, doesn't really matter does it? She'll be here in the mornin' " Two-Bit loved his mother with his whole heart, and he knew how hard she worked to support himself and his sister, but she wasn't very reliable. She was never sure of her work schedule most of the time, so the two Matthews' children never really relied on her anymore. Sometime's when they got home from school, she'd be there with a warm dinner cooked and a smile on the face. Other times they came home to her asleep on the couch. And a majority of the time, she wouldn't be home. She'd still be at work.

Sometimes Two-Bit wondered why his sister worried about their mom so much. But then again, his sister had been the last person to talk with their dad before he decided to leave. Leave and abandon the family for the rest of their lives. She never really mentioned what he had said when he left, but he had a feeling it was something she didn't want to relive.

Kelsey shifted her feet around. "I don't know, I just don't want her to bring that guy home again. I just don't like him Keither..so what are you doing tonight anyway?" She absolutely hated when her mom brought a guy home with her from the bar. She had been bringing this one lanky guy home lately, with real sunken eyes and a suspicious walk to him. She shrugged her shoulders. She was afraid she was going to have to stay home by herself again. Like the last few nights when Two-Bit was out with the guys while she was stayed at home, finishing a composition and just thinking. At least that's what she told him, sometimes he just never understood his sister.

" 'Probably gonna head over to the Curtis' household," He replied to his sister, ignoring the fact she called him Keither. His sister was the only one that called him by his real name and even when she did that she called him a nickname. "You wanna come?"

Kelsey smiled, 'Of course I do, Pony can probably loan me his history notes anyway,"

"You fall asleep in class again?" Two-Bit watched his sister nod her head slowly, "Seems that's all you've been doing lately kid, sleep. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just can't fall asleep lately." That was a lie. She had been having horrible dreams about their father and mother every night and often she would wake up with her face flushed red and her breathing heavy.

"Well next time you're having trouble sleeping, just read those history notes, if it helps in class to fall asleep too, it should help here too," Two-Bit laughed at his own hint of comedy while Kelsey just shook her head.

"So we gonna go then?" she motioned to the door while her brother just sat there and made contact with her icy blue eyes. They were similar to his own, only hers seemed so much colder sometimes. Even without meaning.

"Stop giving me that look, what did I forget?" Two-Bit quickly look at his sister, who was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain what shirt with the sleeves cut off. On her wrist was a bracelet of safety pins and a silver ring on her pinky finger.

"Get a jacket on, it's cold out," he said simply, getting up from the table.

"But I left my jacket in my locker at school!" She called to him from their room as she scrambled around the piles of papers mixed with clothes on her bed.

"Take my other one then!" He yelled back at her, adjusting his own jacket. The other one he was talking about really wasn't his other one, it was his old one he didn't really wear anymore. He had snatched a brand new one and he was quite proud of it. Kelsey threw on her brother's leather jacket and pulled it tight. It fit almost perfectly, it was just a bit big on her. She took a quick glance in the mirror and pulled her hair up into a pony tail.

"Alright Keither, let's go then," she said, running past him from down the hallway and out the door.

Two-Bit sighed and closed the door behind him, "What have I told you about calling me that?"

"I don't know buddy, what have you told me about calling you that?" She was mimicing him slightly but they both knew it was in good fun.

"Don't!"

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_yeah, I know that wasn't a very good ending but I was trying to get some brother/sisterness in there between the two. Love it? Hate it? Review :)_


	2. Two: Arguments

_I would like to thank my **THREE **reviewers, I am sure we all know how much reviews mean to the authors. I would love more, just give the story a chance! you might even like it. :D_

**Disclaimer**: I clearly don't own the Outsiders or any characters that go along with it. Dally would be a charm to own though.. I take credit for Kelsey Matthews though.

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"C'mon kid, you done all that studyin' yet? I thought you wanted to go to the movies,"

Ponyboy Curtis shot a look over to the people who were laying around the couches and caught the eye of Dallas 'Dally' Winston. He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his homework.

"And I thought you wanted to wait 'til Two-Bit got here," Ponyboy said back to him, closing up his text book.

"He should be here soon anyway, I don't see why you waste y'ur time with all that book work," Dally shook his head and lit up with a smile, "Doesn't seem it helps you too much anyway," He suddenly moved to the right to avoid having a thick text book thrown at him.

"Hey, you be careful with those school books, we don't have the money to replace them," spoke Darry, oldest of the Curtis brothers walking out of the kitchen after having finished the dishes for the gang, "And who are you going to the movies with anyway?"

"Johnnycake, Pony, Two-Bit if he ever shows up and probably Kels if she comes," Dally answered, kicking his feet up on the table in front of the couch. Pony thought of his friend Kelsey for a few moments. If she wasn't within earshot she was usually refered to as the girl of the gang although if she heard you she'd probably stare you down. For some reason none of them knew, she hated being called the girl of the gang. Pony ususally assumed she felt out of place when they said that. But she didn't seem to care when Steve and Soda ended up calling her One-Bit a few times, in mockery of her brothers name. She didn't mind, it was a compliment. Aside from the fact that her witty remarks weren't half as good as her brothers most of the time.

Suddenly, there was a large screech coming from their front lawn. Two-Bit came flying in the door, a large grin lighting up his face as he fell into a chair. No one really wanted to ask what he did, but they all wanted to know. Before one of them could speak, Kelsey ran through the door a look of anger on her face. Her hair seemed to be a mess, her jacket resting in her arms and a small scratch on her cheek.

And of course, they were all awaiting the explanation from her.

"Stop your laughin' Two-Bit, it wasn't that funny." She started, "I don't see why you always have to do pointless things like that."

"Like what?" Steve edged her on, giving Two-Bit a look as he continued to laugh.

"That idiot," she pointed to her brother, "stopped to tie his shoe as I walked ahead then ran up and shook my shoulders, pulling my jacket over my head causing me to trip over the gate and fall flat on my face." By the end of her short story, Two-Bit was still laughing at his childish antics and most of the guys were laughing along with him.

"Augh," Kelsey cried as she shook her head and took a seat beside Ponyboy at the table. He muffled his own laughter as she rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, it wasn't even that funny." she told him, shaking her head.

"Actually, it was," he replied, going to his packsack, "You should be needing these," He handed her over a few papers. The history notes.

"Oh god, thanks so much Pony, this seriously saves my life," She gave him a small smile then looked down at the notes.

"I don't know why you keep skipping class anyway Kels, it ain't do ya' any good," Kelsey quickly gave him a look to 'shut his trap' as Two-Bit walked up behind them.

"Wait wait, Kels you were skippin' class? You told me you had fallen asleep," Two-Bit exclaimed, giving her a puzzled look, "Why the hell would you lie to me about that? It's not a big deal,"

"Hey, that's probably why I thought I spotted ya outside in the lot smokin'," Steve added in, recalling the one class he hadn't skipped that day. History bored him to death, it bored anyone to death. Which is probably why he ended up gazing out the window the whole time and seeing her there.

"Thanks for the input Steve," she gave him a look then looked down at the notes in her hand.

"What the hell is this Kels? When did you start smoking?"

"When didn't I start smoking?" she yelled back to him, causing him to process the reply he recieved from his sister. He hadn't remembered her smoking before, or was he just that inobservant?

"What's the supposed to mean? I haven't even smelled smoke on ya'" They were both yelling now.

"That's probably because you're too busy smoking yourself." She didn't want to tell him she had started smoking the day after their dad left. He would try to go into 'Caring Emotional Big Brother' mode, which didn't happen very often. And to tell the truth, Kels hated him like that. He didn't reply to her at all, he just let out a scream and walked out of the house. This left Kelsey feeling pretty uncomfortable, seeing as everyone's eyes were on her now. They were used to the Matthews's kids having arguments now and then, but they'd never heard each other fight that bad before.

She did her best to break the silence.

"So are we gonna go to the movies or not?" she said, looking over at Pony who just smiled. Him and Kelsey had always been good friends, although she was two years older than him, but that was how it was with Johnny too. He never understood how she thought but he never questioned what she did, it always seemed to work out for her.

"Yeah, uh, let's get goin' then." Dally said, getting up from the couch and throwing Darry a 'You better talk to Two-Bit Later' look and headed out the door, as Johnny, Pony and Kelsey all followed.

"They always work things out anyway," Soda said, shrugging a bit reffering to Kelsey and Two-Bit.

"Yeah, well they better. I ain't never seen them fight like that before," Darry said, an almost worried look on his face.

"They're probably just stressed or somethin', their mom's been workin a lot lately," Steve said, sort of summing things up.

"Yeah, they'll be fine,"

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_well, the ending sucked but there was chapter two. :) please read and then REVIEW. i ended up on a favourite story list and you didn't even review to tell me that :D thanks for reading and I know this chapter was sorta short, but that's only because I am working up to something bigger. oh and this takes place during when the book takes place too, like when they went to the movies and met cherry, thats where im heading next chapter. all clear? ten-four._


	3. Three: Movies

shout out to my two reviewers of my last chapter, it makes me feel all warm inside when I get them. sigh enjoy this! oh and some of the text from the movies is from the book, but i changed a lot around too. next chapter shall be awesome!

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"Why doesn't someone just say something already? I know you are all dying to anyway," Kelsey exclaimed, after a long enduring silence on their way to the movies. She looked to Pony, then to Johnny who just avoided her eyes then to Dally who just shook his head.

"I don't understand you Matthews' kids at all!" Dally spoke, throwing his arms up in the air.

"We never seen you and Two-Bit fight that bad Kels," Johnny said quietly, but with enough determination to pull at Kelsey's emotions. She sighed and walked a head a bit. Of course they've never seen them fight that bad, they've only fought that bad at home. And it had only started once their dad had left. She stopped walking for a moment to stop Pony and let Johnny and Dally walk infront of them.

"Hey Pony, you know those dreams you had been having?" He nodded. "Did they ever, well, go away?" Pony looked over at her, a concerned look on his face.

"Kind of, on some bad days they come back, but not that bad, ya know?" She shrugged her shoulders, she didn't really 'know'. Her's hadn't slowed down. There they were, every night. Everytime she closed her eyes.

"Mine haven't stopped. If anything, they've gotten friggin worse," she replied to him. They were nearly at the drive-in by now, rounding the back to slide under the fence.

"Ah don't worry too much about it, they'll fade eventually. One day your mind will just pick up, and move on." He slid under the opening in the fence with little trouble after Dally and Johnny, as Kelsey opted to jump over instead. She may be a greaser, but she hated seeing her jeans too dirty.

"Ya know, I don't see why we just don't pay to get in. It ain't that much anyway," Kelsey stated, as she walked with the group. The guys just shrugged and continued their walking. Kelsey knew that strolling through the drive-in to the seats wouldn't be a big deal, but it seemed that night everyone was staring at them. Everyone. Or it was probably just her. Her emotions were racing everywhere lately, maybe it was all in her head. It was times like these she used to love having Sodapop Curtis to lean on. About a year ago, she had finally confessed her deep feelings of attraction towards Sodapop to the boy himself and seemingly, he said he had felt the same. They went steady for a few months, then had an 'on-again-off-again' relationship since. For the past few months it was been 'off-again' and she knew it probably wouldn't be 'on-again' probably ever again. He had told her he would always be there for her, no matter what. And that they'd always be friends, and she liked it like that. But it wasn't as easy to talk to him anymore.

And no matter where her crushes led her, Two-Bit always liked to have a say in it. Like after one mention of 'Dallas Winston has grown to be so cute lookin'', her trusty brother lectured her on how she should never fall in love with the guy. He'd never feel the same way. Even when she was with Soda, her heart had longed for Dally. That flame in her heart faded away over time. But she knew deep within herself, the flame was always there but it was safer to be friends with the group. Any sort of relationships ruined everything, and always seemed to leave a weird tension. The whole lot of them were better off as friends, and only friends.

They all took seats in the small area of close seats for all those people who came to the drive in without a car. Dally opted to jump a few chairs and scare some kids away to get seats in the second row which made no sense to them anyway. A few moments later a car door was slammed loudly and two girls were sitting in front of them, mumbling about boyfriends and movies.

"Uh oh, looks like someone is having relationship trouble," Kelsey said in a low whisper which seemed to make Johnny laugh, but no one else.

"Well what have we here," Dally spoke quietly, but loud enough for the two seated in front of them to hear. He kicked his feet up onto the chair of the red-headed one and kept them there.

"Take your feet off my chair and shut your trap!" She snapped real fast. That's truly not a good quality in a person. Kelsey muffled a laugh as Johnny rose to go get a Coke.

Dally merely looked at her and kept his feet where they were. "Who's gonna make me?" The brunette turned around to take a look at them. She mentioned something about 'the greaser that jockey's for the Slash J sometimes..." It was as if she didn't think they could hear her.

"You know we can hear you," Kelsey said out loud to point the obvious. She turned around quickly.

"I know you two. I've seen you around the Rodeos" Dally said, ignoring what Kelsey had said. She rolled her eyes and tried to concentrate on the movie.

"It's a shame you can't ride bull half as good as you can talk it," the red-head said coolly. She then swiftly turned around. Kelsey started to laugh.

"Nice blow to the ego Winston," she chuckled as he threw her a shut-up look.

The red-head's remark didn't seem to bother him though, "You two barrel race, huh?"

"Why don't you just be nice and leave us alone?" Dally shot her a foul look and turned away.

It was time's like these that Kelsey completely zoned into the movie and ignored everything around her. She really didn't want to hear Dally attempt to flirt with two Soc girls who wouldn't go for him. Well, Kelsey thought, they probably would. Hell, I would if I was drunk enough. She noticed Dally get up from his seat, probably angry with the way his night was going. He was probably going to hit a party somewhere in town.

Both girls turned around, "Are you going to start in on us?" It was like she was trying to bite him, she snapped so much.

"Of course not," Kelsey said blankly, her eyes still positioned on the screen.

"Well, you two don't look the type anyway, whats your name?" She was motioned to Pony.

"Ponyboy Cutis." Kelsey waited for one of them to exclaim at the rarity and originalness of his name, but the girl just smiled.

"That's an original and lovely name,"

Before she could get to Kelsey, she started to talk herself, "And you're Sherri Valance, cheerleader, sits in the front row on my English class, but of course, you go by Cherry" She was hiding the sarcasam in her voice.

"Oh right," Cherry said, knowing why Kelsey seemed so framilar, "Kelsey uhm.. Matthews is it?" Kelsey nodded and looked back at the screen.

"Knew I recognized you, you're brother's in my math class too," She smiled and Kelsey rolled her eyes. She turned to Pony.

"You're brother, Soda, works at a gasoline station right? A DX?"

"Yeah." Kelsey answered, remembering the days she had spent hanging around the DX with Steve and Soda, desperatly waiting for him to get off work so the swarms of girls would leave too.

They continued to talk for a few moments when Johnny returned. He handed one of the Coke's to Kelsey. He gave the two girl's ahead of them a small 'Hi' and sat back down in his seat. The movie continued and everyone seemed to start paying attention until it seemed a scarier part in the movie occured. Cherry shot around and looked back at them, but mainly at Pony.

"You guys wanna come sit up here with us, keep us safe?" Pony answered her question with a simple nod while Johnny and Kelsey just followed. She found there was something about the two Socs she was sitting with, that was different. Well, there at least was something different about Cherry. No, Sherri. Kelsey reminded herself that she didn't believe in nick-names like that.

"So how come you two ain't scared of us like you were Dally?" Johnny questioned them as he sat beside Marcia, the other girl. Kelsey, who was seated beside Pony, who was beside Cherry who was beside Johnny looked over to Cherry, waiting to hear what she would reply.

"There's something about you two and you're with Kelsey, I'm sure you wouldn't do that sorta stuff with her around." She shrugged a bit and continued to watch.

"You'd be surprised at what they will do with a girl in company," Kelsey smirked, taking a sip of her drink. Pony and Johnny laughed a bit. It was true, the antics of the guys of the gang certainly outweighed anything having to do with Kelsey. She was always one of them, they never thought differently.

As the movie came to an end, which happened after Pony and Cherry left for at least 20 minutes to get popcorn, they all started to walk out of the drive-in. Pony and Cherry were talking about something while Kelsey and Marcia were engrossed in a conversation about Paul Newman. It suddenly occured to them all that Marcia and Cherry didn't have a ride home, seeing as they walked out on their boyfriend's earlier.

"We could always walk you guys home," she shrugged, pulling her jacket on a bit more. The cool leather of the jacket reminded her of her brother out on his own right now, probably drinking because of her. She sighed quietly as the others jumped into a conversation about race, and gangs and morals and how people live after Cherry declined the offer of walking with them.

They did start to walk though, changing the conversation to many other things instead, like Mickey Mouse, Soda's horse and how much Ponyboy reads. It was pretty much standard conversation. Kelsey kept near Johnny.

"Uh oh, Cherry look who's coming," Marcia motioned to a car driving down the road, headlights bright.

"I'm assuming those are probably the angry, drunk boyfriends?" Kelsey thought out loud as Marcia nodded. The car just drove past them though, as if they couldn't see them.

"Tell me about your oldest brother Ponyboy, you talk about Soda so much I feel like I know him," Cherry said, crossing her arms for warmth.

"He's a big guy. Used to play football, roofs houses to support us now. He's not like me or Sodapop at all. He's hard as a rock and about as human. He's got eyes exactly like frozen ice. He likes Soda - everyone likes Soda - but he can't stand me. He probably wants to stick me in a home or something." Pony looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet.

"No, Pony," Kelsey started, "You've got it all wrong boy,"

"Gee, I thought you and Darry get along real well," Johnny said to break the small silence.

"Well, we don't." It sounded as if he just wanted to leave it there. So everyone seemed to drop the subject.

The blue Mustang was patroling the streets again, and this time it slowed down near them.

"Well, they've spotted us Marcia," Cherry said sighing.

"We better just go before they get out here all drunk, it was good talking to you guys," Marcia said to them, a genuine smile on her face as she retreated to the car.

"C'mon Cherry!" Someone exclaimed from the car. Kelsey turned her head around to see a handsome dark haired Soc, who seemed kind of dizzy shouting out the front side window.

"Just wait a minute!" She yelled back to them, as she pulled Pony off for a moment. Kelsey made a quick glimpse of eye contact with the handsome Soc, his eyes seemed weary but dreamy. His stare was cold, so she looked away and turned to Johnny. Cherry then broke away from her small talk with Pony and ran to the car, slamming her door just as the car squealed away.

Kelsey, Johnny and Pony started their walk home, having no idea what could be in store for them.

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And scene, sorry for the forever waiting for this chapter, I;ve been busy with the holidays. bad excuse, I know. please read and review! i love you all for reading:D this one was pretty long compared to what I usually write, so enjoy it! 


	4. Four: False Hope

As they headed down the East Side, Johnny, Ponyboy and Kelsey laughed and cracked jokes about the movie they had just watched. Well, the movie they had just sort of watched. The night was growing colder but Kelsey just crossed her arms to savor the warmth that was quickly escaping from her body. 

"So where do you think Two-Bit ended up tonight?" Ponyboy threw up into the air. Kelsey shot a glance to her friend. How did he always, in some way or another, know what was on her mind? Johnny opened his mouth to reply but he didn't get the chance to say anything.

"I don't care," Kelsey spat, "He probably went somewhere and got drunk, takes after our dear mother like that."

Pony sighed, not wanting to press on anymore than he had. She was clearly upset and a bit more touchy than usual.

"I don't really want to head home yet," Johnny said as he shrugged, "You want to head to the lot for a bit Pony?" Ponyboy nodded.

"What about you Kels?"

Kelsey looked unsure. She glanced at her watch, "Don't think so, Mom is probably home by now anyway." A smile appeared on her face.

"You boys could always escort me home though, before heading to the lot. You know, in case a big scary Soc tried to rape me or something'!" They all burst into side-splitting laughter as she finished her sentence.

"Yeah, oh'course we will Kels." Pony replied, his voice laced with amusing sarcasm.

"Who in their right mind would try and attack you? And if they did, you'd probably just kill them yourself. We've all seen you wrestle Steve before." They all continued to laugh. It seemed they were all now recalling the time Steve had made a snide remark about her. He ended up doing that a lot whenever Two-Bit, Darry or Soda wasn't around. She didn't know why he felt the need to insult and harass her; she never understood Steve Randle. He did the same sort of thing to Ponyboy too.

They continued to walk, taking a quick turn down the road on which the Mathews' house resided. The streetlights were dull and the crumbling paved road was damp. It was a normal lower class neighborhood: cracked paint covered the walls; old appliances were strewn about some yards; even broken windows were a normal sight on a regular street.

They rounded the corner and stopped in the driveway of her house. Kelsey glanced through the window to her home while noticing her mother's car in the drive way. She turned and said her goodbyes to her friends.

"Oh, and Pony?"

He glanced back at her as they continued walking, "Yeah?"

"If, uhm, you see Two-Bit at your house or on your way to the lot, tell him I'm sorry." She said it shortly and simply for she knew Ponyboy understood her. She nodded her head and walked up to her house.

Kelsey was only one step into the house when she heard people arguing in the kitchen. She sighed when she realized it was her mother and her brother again. She tried to walk past the kitchen and flee to her room quickly so she could avoid being pulled into the argument. But just as she walked by, her brother called out to her.

"Kelsey, get in here." he said in a sort of low growl.

She sighed, yet again, and walked into the kitchen. Their mom was sitting at the table drinking a mug of coffee.

"No, Mom, you don't have to work again tonight do yea'?" She asked her mother, who in turn just nodded.

"I'm sorry hun, I asked for the afternoon off and I meant to come home and see you kids. But I ended up spending it job hunting again and getting no where." She rose from her seat and walked over to her daughter, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Can't you just not go in?" Two-Bit exclaimed, "Ma, you can't just live off coffee and no sleep to support us!"

"TB, for now, I truly do. Don't worry, I'll sleep on my breaks." And with that, she gave them a reluctant smile and headed out the door. Two-Bit sighed, a sense of anger in his voice. He glared at his sister.

"Don't even get me started on you," He shook his head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she shot back at him, as she watched her mother pull out of the driveway and disappear down the street.

"Oh c'mon Kels, what are you doing smoking?"

"It's not like there is anything else to do in this town! Except maybe steal things." she sent him a cold hard stare, "And where do you think I picked it up?"

"Where? Don't you dare blame this on me Kelsey Marie, we bother can blame dad for this 'habit', that no good.." Two-Bit continued to call their father numerous cuss words.

"Stop." She spoke quietly.

"No. I won't stop. He is a lousy father, just give up all your hope in him, he's not coming back!"

"Just stop! You know how much that bothers me. Yet you keep talkin', not even pretending to care about my feelings anymore! Fine. You just stay at home and drink daddy away then! Another bad habit you picked up from our parents!" As she finished her sentence, she was yelling. And she felt tears coming. Her anger was bottling up within her. She grabbed his half empty beer bottle from the table and threw it across the room, waiting to hear the sound of it shattering to hundreds of pieces. She rushed to the door.

"Kels, wait!"

"No."

He followed her out the door and grabbed hold of her arm, "Kels, just calm down. I said I was sorry!"

"But you aren't sorry. You never are. Just leave me be!" She pulled away from his grasp and ran from her house, ignoring the pleas of her brother from behind.

She didn't know where this rage was coming from, but there it was, out. As much as she loved her brother, this was partly his fault. Right? He was the one who always ended up drinking his sorrows away, it was his choice. Or was it? Maybe it was horrible traits he had unknowingly picked up from people around him; people that influenced him.. like their father.

Why did she have this re-occuring thought of her father coming back home, bounding in at dinner time with bundles of money making their life complete? False hope. Yet she carried it around so she would have something to hold on to; something to grasp. Did she really think it would get her by?

She kicked a lone rock across the sidewalk as she stopped at the park. She had fond memories of this park. Sunday morning walks with her father and their old dog Sunny, and her begging Two-Bit to come along so she would have someone to swing with. She smiled peacefully as she recalled those moments and rested on one of the swings, looking out at the rest of the park. She thought she saw two framilar voices off in the shadow, coming from the direction of the lot.

"Johnny! Pony? Is that you?" she yelled out, her voice sweeping across the silence and leaving a soft echo. The heads of the two people suddenly turned to her direction, as she could roughly see the outline of Johnny's jean jacket.

"Kels?" They shouted back at her, turning to walk in her direction. She rose from the swings and started to walk to the far end where her friends were coming from. But suddenly, a car screeched to a stop at the road. She turned to see what kind of drunk maniac was out driving this late. She sighed in an angry fashion as she recognized the car. It belonged to the Soc's who were at the movies earlier. She hoped they would just keep driving as she turned and started walking again, but then she heard a door open, then slam closed.

"Hey, I remember her.. she was lookin' at me in a lovey way at the movies t'night.." slurred one of the boys, who were now walking towards her. _Oh great_, she thought, _just what I need._ She glanced over to Pony and Johnny who were still walking over, then looked back towards the Socs.

"Y'all shouldn't even be here, too drunk to see your not in your territory?" she shot at them, crossing her arms. A determined look appeared on her face, as she quickly forgot about her brother.

"Shut up, scum. What, do you think you can stop us?"

She rolled her eyes and turned away, muttering cuss words under her breath. Suddenly a hand grasped her shoulder; a hand she wasn't framilar with.

"What did you just say grease?" Her eyes met with his as she snapped her head around. She could see anger rising in his eyes, and she desperatly hoped Pony and Johnny were closer by now.

"I-i s-sa-said.." she stuttered, suddenly noticing the large amounts of his followers, hanging on her every word. She took a few deep breaths in and out.

"Hey! Get yourr hands off of'er!" Pony jumped in, leaping at the arm attached to her shoulder.

"Get 'em boys!"

* * *

(Whoooa, I'm sorry if the end seemed a tab bit rushed, but I don't think it's too bad. Also, I am sorry for the lateness of this update, I have been engrossed in school work lately, and every spare moment I jump on the computer and do some typing. Please leave a review to tell me how I am doing! Thanks for reading.) 


	5. Five: It Begins

It was like a whirlwind. In moments, Kelsey went from being upset about her brother to being scared for her life. She'd heard tons of stories from Dally about Socs and how dirty they fought. How they cause more fights than greasers do. How they didn't care about anyone or anything but themselves. Kelsey knew that Johnny had been swarmed and attacked a while ago by a group of Socs. They rarely mentioned it, but when they did, she could see the fear growing in his eyes. 

She was afraid that now she would have to experience that fear and pain. She was afraid for Johnny, because he would have to go through it again. She was even scared for Ponyboy who might do the wrong thing without noticing it.

"Get 'em, boys!"

Kelsey knew she shouldn't have run. Over and over in her head, she heard Dallas Winston's deep voice: 'You EVER get attacked, don't run. 'Specially if it's on our turf. Stand yer ground kid!' But of course, that didn't stop her. Johnny flicked open his blade and held it out with confidence and hidden fear. Pony stood his ground. They already knew the Soc's outnumbered them, but they wouldn't just give in. As soon as the fleet of them pounced, Kelsey turned on her heel and ran deeper into the field.

"She's mine!" She knew who's voice that was too. Randy. The handsome one. The one she couldn't help but look at earlier. Kelsey couldn't really recall what had happened with Pony and Johnny, she just hoped they'd be safe. She closed her eyes as she stopped at the wooden fence that lined the field. She knew she couldn't hop it, not with her lack of breath.

She turned around slowly as she heard him approaching and stopping. The fear in her eyes was steady as she looked deeply into his. Deeply into his gorgeous, painful blue eyes. She crossed her arms. He smirked.

"You know, if you didn't have all that grease in your hair, you would look half decent, you little whore,"

She didn't know why. And she immediately regretted doing it. But it was the first thing that came to her mind to do. She slapped him quickly across the face. No one called her a whore without her doing something about it. He released a short, quiet gasp then muttered a few more words under his breath. He turned away for a second, then looked back. His eyes were fill of anger and even slight pain. She winced as he took a step closer to her.

"You slapped me. I was really close to letting you be, 'cause I always feel terrible beating up chicks.. but you, you bitch. How dare you touch me?" He flipped a knife out of his pocket, "I think it's time for a hair cut, Kelsey." She shot him a mysterious look as he spoke her name. How did he know it?

"Wait, wait." The blade was slowing nearing her face, he leaned the cold metal against her neck, allowing her a moment to talk. "How do you know my name?"

"Your brother thought it would be a nice idea to slash my tires one day.. so I stole his wallet when he dropped it.. it seems to have come in handy," he replied with a smirk drawn on his face. She winced as the blade drew a bit of blood on the side of her face. What was she doing? Was she just going to let him do that to her?

She screamed and pushed him away, which wasn't the most sucessful plan. The last thing she remembered was him tackling her to the ground, then he must of knocked her out. It all went black.

--

"Kels.. c'mon Kelsey, wake up.."

"Ponyboy, stop shakin'..."

"I can't help myself Johnny! I'm cold."

Kelsey slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on the cold, hard ground. Above her, the sky was full of stars, sparkling and shining. But why was she on the ground? And why was their an unbearable pain in her left arm? And why was their blood.. on her face?

"Kelsey!" Pony looked over at her, and sighed. She woke up.

"What happened?" She looked around, and saw Johnny wrapped up in a slight ball. Shaking. She noticed the body lying lifeless near the fountain. Her eyes grew wide. She started breathing heavily.

"Pony, Johnny, tell me you didn't kill that boy.." She said softly. She could feel hot tears coming and she didn't know why. She looked over at Pony, then to Johnny.

"It was me, I killed him.. he was hurting Pony.." Kelsey shut her eyes and hoped she would be waking up from a terrible nightmare. But nothing happened. She opened them and they were still in the same situation.

"We've gotta get out'a here," Pony said quickly, "They'll be going to the police. We were waitin' for you to wake up Kels. But we gotta go.." He struggled to stand up, then extended his arm to help Kelsey. Without thinking, she let him grab her left arm and she screamed in pain.

"What in the hell did he do to my arm?" She cussed a few times under her breath and got up on her own.

"I saw him twisting it a bit, but you were out cold by then.." Johnny said softly, brushed the dirt off his jeans. She sighed and quickly shook her hair out of it's ponytail. She felt so hurt and so scared. The last time a Soc even got close to her, Soda had been there for her.

"Where are we going anyways?" she asked, no emotion in her voice.

"Dally," Johnny said with finality, "Dally'll get us outa here." He was walking pretty fast, and Kels was having trouble keeping up with the boys. She could be fast if she wanted to, but she was so cold. And so hurt. True, she was wearing a leather jacket, but she was damp. Her head hurt a lot, so she assumed that's what knocked her out. And from what she could gather from the guys, she'd fallen into the fountain when he had been beating on her.

"Where can we find him?"

"I think at Buck Merril's place. There's a party over there tonight. Dally said somethin' about it this afternoon." By the time they'd reach the party, Kelsey had closed up completely. She was barely talking. It was out mostly because she was cold, but she was scared. She didn't know what was gonna happen.

"Whatta ya want?"

"Dally!" Johnny sounded really distressed, and he tried to glance over Buck's shoulder, "We gotta see Dally."

"He's busy." He replied quickly. Kelsey's eyes darted up to him, and she, too, tried to look passed the large guy blocking the door.

"Tell him it's Pony, and Johnny, and Kels.." Pony said to the guy sternly.

Kelsey coughed a bit, but looked at Buck, "He'll come." Buck glared at her for a moment, then stumbled off. They were all thinking the same thing at this point. Things would be alright if Dally wasn't angry and drunk. If he was either of those two things, this entire thing was no use.

"Okay kids, whatta ya need me for?" Kelsey perked up at the sound of his voice. She looked up to see him standing there, scratching his head without a shirt on. She breathed in sharply. Something about seeing Dallas Winston standing in front of her topless made her feel slightly better. Like for that moment, she completely forgot what had just happened to her.

Finally Johnny finished explaining everything that had happened. "We figured you could get us out if anyone could. I'm sorry we got you away from the party."

"Oh shoot kid, I was in the bedroom." He paused and looked over at Pony, "Glory, but can your ears get red Pony. It's nothin' of that sort, I was tryin' to sleep with all this racket." He motioned around to the party, He thought for a moment, then looked back at the three in front of him.

"Kels? Pony? Are you wet?" Pony was able to stammer out a yes while Kelsey just nodded her head.

"Glory hallelujah!" he opened the screen door and pulled Kelsey in first, urging Johnny and Pony to follow. He lead them to a small room with a bed and tossed a towel at them. He mumbled something about drying off.

"Kelsey, get that damn jacket off. It's no good if it's wet." He tossed her an old shirt, flannel shirt made of thick red fabric. She cringed as she tried to put it on, but her arm was hurting. "What the hell happened to you?" Pony quickly explained in more detail what happened to her. The cut on her face had dried up and would heal fine if she was careful.

"You tend to take after your brother, kid." He said with a laugh. It was true, Two-Bit was usually the one with the cuts and bruises all over him from doing stupid things. Although this wasn't really classified as a stupid thing. He shook the case off the pillow and manuevered a quickly sling for her arm.

"Thanks Dallas." She said softly, putting on the shirt. She didn't really listen as he explained everything to them, about the church and the gun and the money. All she knew was that for the next few weeks, things weren't going to be easy. They were going to be hard, and different, and challenging. When they left, Kelsey grabbed her wet jacket to bring with her. True, for now it wasn't going to be very helpful. But it was the only piece of her brother she had. And she didn't know how long it was going to be until she saw him.

She just hoped he wouldn't worry.

--

_Well, that took me a long time to spit out. And it didn't even end up being too long. I'm hoping to work on this story more often now, so please review and tell me what you think about it. Thanks for reading! And if you have any ideas, please voice your opinion. And yes, some of what was said in the second part came directly from the book. kthx._


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